Perception
by ImpossiblyReal
Summary: Sanji's head injury, although small, leaves him seeing the world in an entirely new way
1. Chapter 1

Sanji's eyelids felt heavy as he opened his eyes. He sat up and immediately saw flashes of color, and felt a throbbing in his head, causing his hand to shoot up and his fingers to grip his head through his hair. Looking around and feeling slightly dizzy, he noticed quite quickly that he was sitting in the infirmary of the Sunny. Taking a deep breath to try and stop his vision from spinning, he looked to the table next to the bed and noticed a glass of water, grabbing it thankfully and taking a small sip. He replaced the glass on the table shakily, and lowered himself back down slowly; for now he would just lay and rest. Sanji knew it wouldn't be long before Chopper came back in to check on him. Their doctor never left anyone in the infirmary alone for more than ten minutes, unless he knew they were conscious and had perfectly passed a medical exam.

Sure enough, a couple minutes later the door was pushed open, and Sanji could see the top of the tiny doctor's hat enter the room. As the reindeer hopped up on his special stool to be able to see at the level of the bed, his eyes met widened comically in relief and surprise when he noticed Sanji looking back at him.

"Sanji!" He exclaimed, but nowhere near loud enough to make Sanji's head hurt, since a doctor knows better than to scream at his recovering patients. "How are you feeling?"

Sanji tried to manage a smile. "Good, I think," he reassured him, "A tiny bit of a headache, and sitting up makes me a little dizzy last I checked, but I should be good to go in no time."

Chopper gave him an unimpressed look, as he had heard that story a thousand times, even when some of the crew had been close to death. Speaking of which… he tried to remember what got him there in the first place. The more he tried to think, the more the dull ache in the back of his head grew. He reached back to rub it, and hissed as he unexpectedly pressed on some sort of bump or bruise. No wonder he wasn't feeling right in the head; he must have been hit.

The doctor seemed to somehow know that Sanji couldn't quite remember exactly what happened, and so he tried to help him piece it back together, "You remember we were fighting marines, right?"

Sanji nodded, "Yeah, there was a shit ton of 'em, but we easily broke their ship in half, and then…" he hesitated, as far as he could remember, he didn't have a single scratch on him as they watched the boat sink into the ocean. It was an easy fight this time. He scrunched his brow a bit, and mumbled, "What, I didn't even get hit before that!"

Chopper nodded, "Ah, yeah, you didn't get hit during the fight." And just as Sanji was about to tell him to stop messing around with the riddles, he finished, "You were hit by one last marine who managed to hide behind the door in the kitchen until after we thought we had won. Robin heard the noise and went to check it out, and when she found him she just threw him off the ship. He got really lucky, being able to take you by surprise, but all in all it wasn't a deadly blow. Bad, since it was to the back of your head, but not enough to cause anything life-threatening." Chopper seemed worried, and Sanji smiled genuinely at his concern.

"Well," he half grunted, as he had to put quite some effort into sitting up again, "Thanks, Chopper. What time is it? I need to start making the next meal for everybody…" And he tried to turn to swing his legs off of the bed so he could get up, but Chopper held out an arm and silently commanded him to stop. Sanji almost laughed, because he should have known that even with just a bump to the head he wouldn't be able to leave without a full examination. Sighing, he stopped trying to get up, and allowed the doctor to get on with his work.

Chopper smiled at Sanji, and pulled out the drawer containing all his equipment. After finding Sanji's blood pressure to be almost exactly normal, his pupil dilation to be fine (so, thankfully, no sign of a concussion), his reflexes to be as sharp as ever, and his response to basic questions unfaltering, the cook was granted permission to leave. As he slowly stood and turned to head to the door, he stopped, a thought crossing his mind.

"Chopper," he began, "how long have I been out for?"

"Oh!" the little doctor exclaimed, not believing he didn't remember to start with that basic bit of information. "Just a couple days," he smiled as if that wasn't a lot for just a bump on the head.

"A couple _days!_?" Sanji's jaw dropped a bit, and he was irritated with himself. A little hit on the head took him out for 48 hours? Either he was getting weaker, or it did more damage than it seemed to have done. Although he had to let it go because none of it mattered anymore, now that he was awake. He shrugged, not wanting to worry his friend, and simply said, "Thanks Chopper, you're the best!" walking happily out the door. As he left, he heard Chopper's usual cries of, "That doesn't make me happy, you jerk!" Sanji chuckled to himself as he headed to the kitchen.

Crossing the deck, he was spotted by none other than their captain. Luffy jumped up eagerly from his spot on the railing of the ship, and flung himself at Sanji happily. "SANJI!" the boy exclaimed loudly, and wrapped himself around Sanji's upper body.

Usually Sanji didn't have a problem with Luffy being loud, but this time, as Luffy yelled his name his head suddenly hurt. He saw flashes of white in the corner of his vision, bright and almost blinding, and for some reason he related the noise of the situation to the popping of multiple balloons. He uneasily stepped forward to keep his balance, but failed and ended up dropping to his knees. Luffy immediately let go of Sanji, and grabbed his shoulders to support him. Chopper, having just been leaving the infirmary, saw him in his half fallen position and rushed over.

"Sanji! Are you alright!?" Chopper's voice was high and panicked. Sanji grabbed his head forcefully, as this time he felt the noise like a whistle, sharp and high, and red lights similar to the ones that come from emergency alarms.

"Sanji, talk to me!" Chopper insisted, as Luffy helped him back onto his feet to lead him back to the doctor's office and up onto the bed again.

"I have no idea," Sanji choked out, "the noises- there were colors, and the sounds felt like other sounds- my head just…" He couldn't even figure out what was going on for himself, much less explain it to other people.

Chopper had a confused look on his face for a few moments. Both Sanji and Luffy looked at him expectantly, and after a couple minutes, the doctor's face turned to one of realization. He gasped a little, and offered his theory, "Sanji! Have you ever heard of synesthesia?" he looked questioningly at the blonde man.

"Sounds familiar," he nodded, "although I have no clue what exactly it means."

"Well, it's a neurological phenomenon where the experience of one sense involuntary triggers a second sense to be experienced along with the first. So, the people who have it have two or three senses that kind of connect. For example, if you hear a noise you may associate it with a certain taste, or if you see a certain number it may have a color associated with it, even when it has been printed in black and white, things like that. The only thing that strikes me as strange is that you've never had this until now. Usually the people who experience it have always had it, and it's not the result of damage to the brain. But I think, since your injury was to the back of the head by the occipital lobe, which controls sight, it's not surprising that your vision might have been affected in some way. So seeing color might have just been a result of that." Chopper had a serious look on his face as he finished his lecture, and if Sanji looked very carefully, he could see, in the air around chopper, a slight blue-violet color. Taking in the color he could see around the doctor with easy acceptance- it was really cool after all- he turned to look at Luffy. Observing his younger friend, he noticed that Luffy, too, had his own color around him. It was a deep red, not too far from the color of the boy's favorite shirt. Overall, both of the colors were almost completely translucent, so they were hard to notice, but in general Luffy's was easier to see. He made a mental note to contemplate the meaning behind these colors later, and returned to the conversation at hand.

"So…" Sanji started, trying to make things clear, "will it always hurt? Will the colors ever stop coming? Is it only with loud noises? Is it going to be with anything _besides_ noises?"

Chopper rubbed the back of his neck hesitantly, "Um, actually, I've never seen anything like this, so I have no idea what will happen. Besides, each case is unique. You'll just have to find out for yourself, and let me know if anything changes."

The cook had been expecting that, and he agreed. He was sure after his head itself recovered from the trauma that even if he was still seeing colors it wouldn't be unpleasant. Luffy grinned, "Seeing colors with other senses!? Cool!" He patted Sanji on the back excitedly, "You're lucky, Sanji! I wish I could see meat when I heard noises!" And he laughed, holding his stomach and tipping back his head. The laughter was contagious, and their captains remarks were absurd as always, so Chopper and Sanji found themselves laughing along soon enough. This time around, the lightness of the situation caused yellow, but this time it was warm and not as eye searing as the other bright colors, dancing in rays across his field of view.

Sanji's laugh faded as he was struck by a familiarity in the color and feeling. When he realized what it was, he was almost in awe of the experience. "Sunshine," he mumbled to himself, surprised.

Chopper stopped laughing immediately, and looked back at the blonde man intently. "What about sunshine?"

Sanji shrugged, "That's what I saw, or felt, or…" he struggled to explain.

Chopper became again enthusiastic, "It's good you associate good things with good feelings! That makes sense." Then he double checked, "It was good, wasn't it? It didn't hurt your head or anything?"

Sanji nodded his agreement, "Yeah, this one was fine. The other ones made me feel like I was going to go blind. Or maybe have my head explode. Either one." He grinned playfully, to reassure Chopper he was feeling all right.

The doctor nodded thoughtfully, and with renewed spirit, Sanji jumped off of the bed. Giving Chopper a pat on the head and a last smile at Luffy, and he headed out the door without explanation; he had a meal to prepare. They both knew where he was going anyway, and the proof of their understanding was the rubber boy's cheer of "Yay! Sanji's cooking!" as he launched himself out the door after the cook.

Sanji was feeling strangely at ease with this whole situation as he entered the galley. Above any potential discomfort, he was amazed as to the sharpness and connectedness of his senses as he prepared the food. While cutting red peppers, he noticed everything in great detail; first the sound of the steel blade cutting through the firmer outside of the pepper with the same crunch as an apple being bitten into. It was then immediately followed by the lower, airy pitch of a hollow whooshing through the more porous inside, then the final softer crunch of the opposite side of the pepper. Finally, the thunk of the knife hitting the cutting board sounded like the connection between an axe blade and a tree, recalling a memory from when he would cut down christmas trees with Zeff in his childhood. One specific moment, like a picture of the memory, flashed in his mind in overlap with his vision. As he lifted the knife blade out of the vegetable, a thin disc of the same red followed the knife up, and faded away as he brought it back down to repeat the action. It was brilliantly complex when he stopped to think about it. He hadn't tried to notice, it was just what he observed; the sounds triggering memories, and the actions pulling colors alongside them. Within a fraction of a second, he had actually been cognizant of countless things, all a blur of sensations.

Interesting.

He continued to cook and take in the changes in his vision and thoughts that were triggered in the back of his mind. From the grey violin screeching of the rusty hinge on the cupboard door, to the deep orange glow the room seemed to take on when he lit the flame on the stove, all the way to the bronze muffled bell ring of the spoon hitting the side of the pot as he stirred.

In the background, on the deck of the ship, the cook heard Luffy excitedly telling everyone Sanji was ok and awake again. The cheerful voices and laughs reached him in smooth waves through the air and wooden walls of the kitchen, and once again he was surrounded by the faint warmth and sunshine yellow that he somehow already knew he would always associate with the sound of his nakama's happiness.

 **A/N** : Hey guys! So, I just thought this up last night and I really wanted to do something with it. I really don't know exactly what I want to do, so if you have anything you really want to see happen, let me know in the comments! I know there isn't any hint of relationships at the moment, but I really do have my favorites that I want to incorporate. But I will also make sure to keep the action up and not let it turn into anything that takes away from the whole theme of perception.

Anyway, let me know what you're thinking, good or bad!

Thank you so much for reading, love you all!

\\(^~^)/


	2. Chapter 2

As the crew all came in to dinner they seemed to be rather glad to have his cooking back, even after only missing it for a couple days. Nami entered in a wave of magenta and dark red-orange, Robin in a deep blue or indigo, Franky in a turquoise that was just a little darker than his hair, Brook in a bright pink, and Usopp in an orange-yellow. Zoro was nowhere to be seen; of course he didn't care about if Sanji was awake or not, the marimo jerk, but Sanji didn't care- he would just give the other man a bunch of crap about it next time he saw him. For the time being, the cook did his best to ignore any irritation the noise of their greetings when they saw him caused his head, but it was pretty hard. Making a good effort to stop using a thousand senses at once, Sanji turned his attention to the food on the table. He wasn't that hungry, and he finished eating pretty quickly. Knowing it was his job to make sure everybody was well fed, he decided it would be best to start making a plate for Zoro before Luffy could eat it all. So, he got up from the table and walked the short distance from the table to the counter in order to keep the food out of the battle zone.

Just as he was contemplating what sauce to put on the pasta (he chose the meat sauce and grabbed a bit of garlic bread for good measure) Luffy and Usopp's debate over whether it was better to be able to breath underwater or fly escalated into a real argument. Everybody besides Robin had gotten really into it, and they were all talking at once; shouting across the table, gesturing madly with their hands, and pounding on the tabletop.

It wasn't surprising- they got like this all the time, and it was typically quite entertaining to watch or participate in. But today, all he could see was flashes of every color at completely random times. Sensing too much at once, his head began to throb again. He held on to the counter and braced himself, squeezing his eyes shut and willing the colors to stop. But behind his eyelids color still flickered dimly. Fire orange hand grenade, that's what this argument was. And for a moment it sounded as though Usopp was genuinely mad enough to start throwing punches, causing Sanji to taste… peppers?… in his mouth. Knowing it would be best to leave soon, he clutched the back of his head and put his forehead against the counter for a couple seconds. Taking a deep breath and opening his eyes, he stood up again. When he looked back at the table, he noticed that Chopper was looking at him worriedly, and Robin seemed to have her suspicions as well. Thankfully nobody else noticed. Looking at Chopper, he gave him a thumbs up and a small smile, then indicated that he was just going to leave and get some space. The tiny doctor nodded, although Sanji was sure he would be visited and checked on later, and turned back to the conversation, insisting it was much better in the sky than under the water with those scary sea monsters.

As Sanji left the galley, and as the door swung shut behind him he was immediately relieved. Taking a moment to close his eyes again and take one last deep breath, he straightened up and began his search for Zoro. It wasn't hard to find him at all, as he turned his head, he saw Zoro asleep on the grass of the deck.

"Oi, marimo!" He yelled from across the deck as he walked closer. As he expected, there was no response from the swordsman, but as he got close enough to cast his shadow over the sleeping man, Zoro opened one eye and looked up.

The green haired man sat up with a grunt, and held out his hand to accept the plate. Sanji made sure to keep it out of his reach, and leveled Zoro with a bored and slightly annoyed look. The swordsman sighed, and stood up to face Sanji properly. As he stood, the blonde stepped back in order to avoid being bumped into- Zoro was anything but graceful he wasn't handling swords. The sunlight came over the tanner man as he rose, and the result was almost enough to take Sanji's breath away for a moment. He already knew what colors he associated with the rest of his nakama as a result of dinner, but this was different from what he had expected. Rather, he hadn't expected anything, but if he had been expecting something it would not have been what he was seeing now.

The aura Zoro gave off was completely new. The feeling rolled off of him in waves, steady but gentle; it promised of comfort and protection to those who had earned it. But Sanji was sure anyone who was on the bad side of that would be scared out of their minds, the threat being almost tangible. Unlike the others, whose colors were a basic shade, and hard to spot, this one was that of a metallic gold. It seemed to almost shine in the light, and it _felt_ like quiet power and self confidence, along with patience and willpower. It wasn't as if Sanji could ever have denied Zoro having all those attributes, but to see and feel them coming off the other man was definitely even more impressive. To the cook, this man had always been the picture of poor manners and even poorer timing. But now… He could feel himself staring, but he couldn't bring himself to do anything about it. He was just in awe. There was no other way to describe it; he hadn't been good at explaining his feelings even when he hadn't been feeling this much. So now it was just downright impossible.

Sanji shook his head-he couldn't think this way. All he was here to do was give this idiot his food, and besides, suddenly seeing a color didn't change a thing about Zoro. And all Zoro was good for was irritating him. In fact, he was sure that in not so long he would be associating gold with all things he disliked. Yeah…

Finally meeting the other man's gaze, Sanji remembered he had been staring for a while. Zoro stared back with a questioning gaze, and Sanji couldn't help but notice the flecks of a lighter maple color swimming in the impenetrable brown eyes that were looking into Sanji's. Zoro's forehead creased a bit as he regarded the blonde with concern.

"Sanji?" He questioned, "Are you alright? Chopper told us about your head."

 _Great_ , Sanji thought, _on top of everything he has to start acting all nice_.

"I'm definitely fine," he said slightly too defensively, "Just eat your dinner." And with that, he shoved the plate into Zoro's hands.

Without another word, Zoro accepted the plate and sat back down on the grass. Sanji, realizing the crew was still eating in the galley, decided he would much rather stay out here in the quiet, so he sat down in the grass near where the other man was eating. The silence was comfortable, and the cook's headache began to fade away quickly. After a few moments of nothing but the breeze carrying the muffled noises from the galley to be heard, it dawned on Sanji that this situation brought to light something he never really considered; he knew the swordsman was loud when he was being challenged, but in general when the crew was having one of their typical noisy discussions, Zoro never seemed to care. The green haired man was, in general, passive and silent. Sure, it seemed obvious in hindsight, but Sanji had never considered the extent of it all, and now he found himself thinking that this was the most pleasant company he had ever experienced coming from Zoro. He had always been focused on the things Zoro did say, considering them rude and loud, to notice that there was a good amount of time the man spent being considerately quiet and simply listening to what other people had to say. And now there was nothing he could be more thankful for than being able to get some quiet without being completely alone. All there was was the slight golden glow coming from the man next to him, and the warm presence of nakama.

Maybe the idiot swordsman wasn't as obnoxious as Sanji had always thought.

Having finished his food, Zoro stood up and moved to return the plate to the kitchen. "Thanks," he said without stopping his motion. And Sanji bit back a comment about it being rude, and instead settled for watching his source of peaceful company walk away, that brilliant warm color following after him.

 **A/N:**

Hey all! So I know this chapter as well was not very productive. But I did want to develop more of what Sanji can realize with his new senses. When any action picks up, I now do not have to explain anything about what he is seeing or why, because you will already know!

If you have any questions about they way I am describing things, let me know. "Fire orange hand grenade" is just one example of the abstract concepts I am using to help develop an idea of what the noises are like to Sanji. There isn't really a 'right' way to picture it- it is open for interpretation, and even if your idea of it doesn't match mine, it's fine! As long as an idea is there.

Leave some comments, and feel free to send suggestions!

Love,

Z


	3. Chapter 3

It had been about a week, and Sanji had been still experiencing colors, though less strongly. He had gotten used to seeing colors around people on and off, and the crew knew the extent of what he was seeing and feeling under each circumstance. The one thing he lied about was the color he saw in Zoro; he told himself he didn't want to admit it because it would only give the swordsman another reason to think he was better than he really was. So instead, he had said that of course Zoro was a boring shade of green, like everything else about the man.

Fortunately, the colors no longer triggered headaches if there were too many of them at once. But there was still the problem of Sanji needing more quiet than he used to, purely to rest his mind and eyes when he had spent too long around noise. And that was why he ended up in his current situation.

At the moment, Sanji was leaning against the side of the Sunny with his back turned to the beach at which they were docked. The crew was on the beach playing some sort of game, besides the ladies who were working in their room and Zoro who was doing his sword exercises. Sanji had played a couple of the games with them, until he needed a break from all the commotion. He compared it to the need to step outside and get some fresh air after having been inside a stuffy room for too long; it wasn't painful to stay inside, but it was refreshing to take a minute out on occasion. Now, Sanji had been in this exact spot for about ten minutes, and Zoro had been less than five feet away from him the entire time, moving smoothly from position to position as he held his katana expertly. Zoro knew Sanji was watching, and Sanji knew Zoro knew, but for the first time in their lives, they were fine with just coexisting. It all came down to the fact that Sanji was too interested to pick a fight, and Zoro was simply passive and focused. At times like these, the blonde realized how many of the arguments the two of them seem to always have are caused by himself. Zoro never really had much motivation to make the first attack on Sanji, verbally or otherwise, but Sanji had always known what to say to get him to retaliate. And he usually did it. But not today, or the past week for that matter. Yes, of course they had fought, but not as much as they used to over every tiny thing.

What Sanji really was here for, along with taking a break from the rambunctious group on the beach, was to see Zoro's motions. It sounded creepy and weird, and even made Sanji uncomfortable when he thought about it too much, but it was true. The cook could watch every muscle in the other man's body move in a way that was of ripples over water; coordinated and fluid, one going smoothly into the other and following behind it gracefully. He occasionally saw the golden color swirl around for a brief second, corresponding with the movement Zoro made, then continuing on as though it had its own momentum. Something about it felt like it was reaching right through Sanji and pulling everything stressful and unpleasant straight out of him. Faint wind chimes, a gentle waterfall, the warm summer breeze.

Just as Zoro was going into his last set, Luffy's hands appeared by Sanji on the ship's railing, and the boy shot himself up onto the deck with a snap.

"Sanji! Usopp said there was probably some good food on this island- can we go into town and see!?" Luffy asked, red-pink. "Then if there's any meat you can buy it for us!"

Sanji laughed, "Sure, Luffy. I'll get a bag, then I'll be set to go. Have everyone come with us, it should be fun."

Luffy grinned, and ran off to gather everybody up.

The town was nice; a short walk through the trees behind the beach lead to the village, which rested just on top of a slight hill. Further back there were mountains, but the village didn't extend that far, and Sanji doubted anyone went back there for anything anyway, since the town seemed self-sufficient. There were little farms around the outskirts, and an impressive market towards the middle. The houses were cottage sized; not more than one floor, and definitely not well heated or cooled. Perhaps the weather was like today's all year round; warm and sunny with a slight breeze and some potential light rain. All in all, it was a much more homey village than many of the others they had seen since entering the Grand Line all those years ago. It was hard to believe such a thing even existed in a place like the New World.

Sanji had somehow ended up by himself, as everybody had split off to investigate their own areas of interest. He didn't mind though, as this island seemed to have a unique variety of herbs. A villager had told him, when he had inquired about some of the herbs on display at the market, that just around the left side of the mountain there was a man who collected them from the forrest and even grew his own sometimes. So, Sanji was on his way to find out more.

Approaching the mountain, he could see a little pillar of smoke coming from what he assumed was a tiny house by the shore. When it was in view, Sanji could see an older man in the window, chopping something and quietly humming a tune. He looked up and could see Sanji approaching, and seemed scared for a fraction of a second before disappearing from sight, leaving behind a fading grey silhouette.

 _That's odd_ , the cook thought to himself, _I wonder what he was so scared of_. Surely it wasn't Sanji who frightened the old man… Was it?

When he reached the door, Sanji knocked. After about a minute of not getting even a hint of response even though he knew that old guy was still inside, he pushed the door open anyway.

"Oi," Sanji spoke loudly enough to be heard easily, but made sure not to yell since the man was apparently already afraid. "Old man, are you still in here? I was told by someone in the village to ask you about herbs." Still no reply, and Sanji strode into the next room. As soon as he stepped foot on the wood of the floor by the fireplace, the floor creaked a little. Somehow, Sanji could tell it was hollow.

Placing his bag on the ground and laying flat on his stomach, he looked closely at the floor and tried to find a revealing separation between the boards that might indicate a hidden door. However, before he got too far in his scrutiny, the old man suddenly came out of nowhere and tried to bring a wooden club of some sort down over Sanji's head. Luckily Sanji was quick, even on the ground, and he pushed up with his arms, allowing him to swing his leg up and into the attacker's chest, knocking him back. The man landed on the ground with a grunt, and Sanji smoothly stood up and walked over to where he had landed.

"What are you doing," Sanji questioned him without any sort of threat in his voice.

"I- I was-" The old man stammered his reply in mustard yellow. It was easy for Sanji to tell he was afraid, and it was interesting for him to visually see the difference between the sunshine yellow of happiness and this yellow of fear; this one was much darker, and almost had a brown tint to it, making it much more uncomfortable and feeling thicker.

Sanji offered his hand to the man, who initially flinched as though he were about to be hit. After a moment of consideration, the old man tentatively reached out to take the hand extended to him. When he was back on his feet, the man apologized, "I am very sorry, I thought you were here to steal from me."

The cook raised an eyebrow, and looked at the man with a questioning gaze. "Why would I do that?"

The old man looked down at the dirt on his floor and said, "People usually come and steal from me at least once a week."

Sanji's jaw dropped, "Once a week! Are the herbs that special?"

The man nodded sagely, "Ah, but the problem is, the people who come take them aren't people who can use them. As far as anyone knows, I am the only one who can."

Sanji frowned, "Is that supposed to be a challenge? I can cook with anything, so I'm sure some plants wouldn't be impossible to-" He was cut off as the man began to laugh.

"Oh, no," the old dude replied happily, "I'm not talking about my unique cooking herbs and spices. There are much rarer ones in my collection."

The blonde stared, unimpressed, at the man. "Care to explain?"

All hints of reservation gone, the man jumped up happily, and sauntered over to the floor that Sanji suspected might be hiding something. Lifting a piece of the floorboard about the one square foot, he retrieved a box. From this box he pulled a small pouch out from inside a can. Sanji personally felt it was a little over protected, but apparently the dude got robbed purely for these herbs at least once a week, so he couldn't judge. The elder gestured to the table in his kitchen, and they both took a seat as the man poured some of the contents out to be observed.

"I've never sold these before," he said as though it were a secret, "but for you I can make a very special exception and give you half the bag for 100,000 beri."

Sanji tasted a stale and partially sour flavor in his mouth that he had come to associate with lies, and rolled his eyes at the absurd offer.

"Don't even try it, old man," he laughed. "Just tell me what these things do."

The man lost the appearance of his facade in a small flash of blue, and sat a little straighter. With the pride he had left, he told Sanji, "You see, these herbs only grow on this exact island, and my family has used it for many years in order to continue reading the prophecies."

Sanji didn't really know what to say to that. As far as prophecies go, Sanji had never heard one that he knew to eventually come true. He didn't consider himself a non-believer, but he could say that he had definitely never been presented with a reason to believe it at all.

Sensing his doubt, the man continued, "The people in the village on the other side of the mountain know this, and they know I will only reveal the prophecies of my own town. This is why they come to steal from me, thinking it will allow them to see their own futures," he concluded, shaking his head disapprovingly. "They are foolish."

Sanji sighed lightly and rubbed his forehead. "Ok, so you claim these herbs can be used to help you get some sort of messages about the future," his blue eye met the older ones, and the elder nodded. "Then," Sanji continued, "great. But at the same time, prophecies are just that until they actually happen. And I'm guessing they have yet to prove themselves."

The old man got a little bit defensive, and he declared, "Doubt as much as you like, young man. But know this: Since the beginning of this island's habitation, my family has made over a thousand predictions."

Sanji was about to point out that the number didn't really mean anything in relation to their reliability, but he was cut off just as he opened his mouth.

"And only one has yet to come true."

Sanji's eyes widened as he shot up straight in his seat. 99.9% accuracy! There was no way. Even if it was a real thing, it had to have more flaws than that. He sat, stunned, and waited for the sour-stale taste of a lie to pass over his tongue.

It never did.

 **A/N:**

So this is kind of where I wanted to go with this, a little bit of a mix of action, keeping the idea of this strange version of synesthesia, and also getting some development in. And yes, if any of you are wondering, I do realize that this isn't an accurate representation of the _actual_ condition of people who have synesthesia. It is just fiction, after all.

I'm so impressed by you all, and how many people have viewed my story thus far! I absolutely love it, and all of you, thanks very much :)

On top of that, definitely recommend things to me if you like- either to wright or read. Message me, be social with me, complain at me, tell me a fandom joke, anything.

Stay golden

~Z


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